Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
November 18,
2007 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in on November 2007
Furniture Row held a grand opening Sunday of a new flagship complex in Denver, its home city, with a new interior look created by a retail design firm. The store on North Broadway replaces four separate stores that had operated in the area with a 93,500-square-foot complex that includes the retailer’s Sofa Mart, Oak Express, Bedroom Expressions and Denver Mattress Company brands, all of which have separate entrances.
“We’ve had stores in this neighborhood for many years, but this is the ‘Broadway Premiere’ for our Furniture Row Shopping Center retail presentation,” said President Tom Faulkner. “We brought the expertise we’ve developed over 30 years and through 330 store and center openings across the country back home to Denver’s own Broadway.”
The interior look of the store was created by JGA, a Southfield, Mich., retail design and architectural firm with a client base that includes Brookstone, Godiva Chocolatier and Jaguar automobiles. The Furniture Row design incorporates vignettes designed to help shoppers visualize how specific furniture items will look in their home.
“We wanted consumers to quickly understand the pricing and product information to enhance their shopping experience,” said Kathi McWilliams, JGA’s creative director.
During a grand opening celebration that continues through Christmas Eve, shoppers in Furniture Row’s 41 stores in Colorado can register to win prizes that include a 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid, plasma TVs and ski passes to Colorado resorts.
November 18,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Bedding on November 2007
New flammability regulations and technologies will continue to boost the mattress market, which has been growing steadily by an average 11 percent per year even as other segments of the home furnishings industry have slowed, according to a new report by New York-based SBI, a publisher of market research data.
With flammability regulations leading to shorter replacement cycles and consumers more focused on wellness benefits, SBI expects the market value of the U.S. mattress industry, including exports, to grow from $7.6 billion this year to $10.9 billion in 2011. SBI’s definition of the market includes shipments, imports and exports.
“Luxury and specialty (non-innerspring) bedding are showing the most growth and offer companies the highest margins,” said Cathy Minkler, SBI’s associate editor. “Consumer interest in alternatives to standard innerspring mattresses may be partly due to the perception that innersprings are outdated and not state of the art. This is more likely to be a factor for Gen X and Gen Y, for whom innovation is an important part of their lifestyle. More information is available at
www.sbireports.com, the company’s Web site.
November 18,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Bedding on November 2007
Charles Eitel, chairman and CEO of Simmons Bedding Co., has succeeded Jim Nation of Spring Air Co. as chairman of the International Sleep Products Association board of trustees.
“I appreciate this opportunity for continued service to our great industry and look forward to strong collaboration with the ISPA Board as we work to expand the mattress market,” said Eitel. “In particular, we hope to strengthen our outreach to consumers by involving retailers in our efforts, and we think they’ll share our excitement about the tremendous opportunities that lie ahead.”
Under Eitel’s leadership, Simmons, the world’s second-largest branded bedding company, was recognized by Fortune magazine as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” two years in a row, in 2003 and 2004. The Atlanta-based company, which has been an ISPA member since it helped found the association in 1915, employs approximately 4,000 people and operates 17 plants throughout the United States and Puerto Rico.
“We are delighted that Charlie Eitel has assumed this key industry leadership role,” said ISPA President and CEO Dick Doyle. “His insights and support have been essential to the success of our organization, and we truly appreciate his dedication and participation.”
November 18,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on November 2007
Mary-Price Furr has been named director of brand marketing for American Signature, the private label brand of Columbus, Ohio-based retailer Value City Furniture Stores.
Furr came to American Signature from Fine Furniture Design & Marketing, where she had served as director of marketing.
FFDM, High Point, has not named a replacement yet, said Jim Adams, vice president of design and marketing.
“We’re in the process of evaluating our needs on that function, and then we’ll make a decision,” he said Friday.
November 18,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on November 2007
Metal Bed manufacturer Wesley Allen, Los Angeles, has completed several substantial investments as part of a 5-year project to make its plant more environmentally conscious.
Those steps include one of the largest privately-owned solar panel systems in California, which generates more than 50 percent of the plant’s energy needs; the use of industrial energy-saving light bulbs throughout the facility; powder-coat, lead-free finishes on iron beds, with spray booths built to allow the recycling of powder; and a company-wide recycling program for paper, bottles and electrical
components.
“The environmentally conscious measures we have taken as a company have the elegant effect of reducing our impact on the environment as
well as increasing profitability by reducing certain fixed costs,” said Victor Sawan, president.